This invention relates generally to the field of thin film materials used in magnetic disks for data storage devices such as disk drives, and more particularly to the use of an improved thin film magnetic disk with a chromium-nickel pre-seed layer
The magnetic recording disk in a conventional drive assembly consists of a substrate, and a plurality of thin film deposited upon it. A variety of disk substrates such as NiP-coated AlMg, glass, glass ceramic, glassy carbon etc., are used. Disks that are commonly available in the market are made with an AlMg substrate on which a layer of amorphous NiP is electrolessly deposited. Such disks typically include an underlayer consisting of a thin film of chromium (Cr) or a Cr alloy, a cobalt-based magnetic alloy layer deposited on the underlayer, and a protective overcoat deposited on the magnetic layer.
Since nucleation and growth of Cr or Cr alloy underlayers on glass and most other alternative substrates differ significantly from those on NiP-coated AlMg substrates, different materials and layer structures are used on glass substrate disks to achieve optimum results. In cases where a substrate such as glass is chosen, a xe2x80x9cseed layerxe2x80x9d is typically sputter deposited between the substrate and the Cr-alloy underlayer. Several materials have been proposed in published papers and patents for seed layers such as: Al, Cr, CrNi, Ti, Ni3P, MgO, Ta, C, W, Zr, AlN and NiAl on glass and other substrates. (See for example, xe2x80x9cSeed Layer induced (002) crystallographic texture in NiAl underlayers,xe2x80x9d Lee, et al., J. AppI. Phys. 79(8), Apr. 15, 1996, p.4902ff). In a single magnetic layer disk, Laughlin, et al., have described use of a NiAl seed layer followed by a 2.5 nm thick Cr underlayer and a CoCrPt magnetic layer. The NiAl seed layer with the Cr underlayer was said to induce the (10{overscore (1)}0) texture in the magnetic layer. (xe2x80x9cThe Control and Characterization of the Crystallographic Texture of Longitudinal Thin Film Recording Media,xe2x80x9d IEEE Trans. Magnetic. 32(5) September 1996, 3632). The present invention involves the deposition of a pre-seed layer upon a substrate such as glass, to improve the crystallographic properties of subsequently fabricated layers, such that the magnetic disk of the present invention is fabricated with improved performance characteristics. Recently antiferromagnetically coupled (AFC) magnetic layers have been shown to improve thermal stability of longitudinal media with low remanent magnetization/thickness product (MrT) while improving SNR as described in xe2x80x9cAntiferromagnetically coupled magnetic media layers for thermally stable high-density recording,xe2x80x9d by Fullerton et al., Applied Phys. Lett., Vol 77, Dec. 4, 2000. The same underlayer structure (pre-seed, seed and Cr-alloy underlayer) may be utilized either with the conventional magnetic layer (onset layer plus magnetic layer) or with the AFC structure which can contain two or more magnetic layers coupled antiferromagnetically through one or more spacer layers such as Ru. The present invention covers the use of a CrNi pre-seed layer for either structure.
The thin film disk of the present invention includes a thin film pre-seed layer having a crystalline structure. The pre-seed layer, which is a chromium-nickel (CrNi) alloy, is sputtered onto a substrate such as glass, followed by a ruthenium-aluminum (RuAl) seed layer. The crystalline pre-seed layer allows for the use of a thinner RuAl seed layer which results in a smaller overall grain size, as well as a reduction in manufacturing cost of the magnetic disk due to relatively high cost of ruthenium. The use of the CrNi pre-seed layer generally reduces the magnetic layer grain size and its distribution, and improves the in-plane crystallographic orientation, the coercivity (Hc) and the SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) to generally increase the areal data storage density for disk storage products. The increased coercivity also allows for the use of a thinner Cr alloy underlayer, which also results in smaller overall grain size. Another benefit of the CrNi pre-seed layer is that it provides additional thermal conductivity, which helps prevent thermal erasures on a glass disk. Preferred embodiments of the present invention include an underlayer having an optimal concentration of Cr, and a cobalt based magnetic layer with an optimal concentration of Pt, boron and Cr.
An advantage of the magnetic disk of the present invention is that the use of a CrNi pre-seed layer improves the media coercivity for a film structure with a very thin RuAl seed layer and an ultra-thin Cr alloy underlayer.
Another advantage of the magnetic disk of the present invention is that the use of a CrNi pre-seed layer not only reduces usage of high cost RuAl, but also improves coercivity while maintaining a good SNR.
A further advantage of the magnetic disk of the present invention is that the use of a relatively thick CrNi pre-seed layer is advantageous in improving the thermal erasure problems related to a glass disk medium.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description which makes reference to the several figures of the drawings.